<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Arc of Conflict, Fragment a1,1: telephone tag by bzarcher, solarbird</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27340852">The Arc of Conflict, Fragment a1,1: telephone tag</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzarcher/pseuds/bzarcher'>bzarcher</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarbird/pseuds/solarbird'>solarbird</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Gods and Monsters [120]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Overwatch (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Background Relationships, Biological Weapons, Confrontations, Conspiracy, Divided Loyalties, Ecopoint China Sea, Evil Plans, F/F, F/M, Gen, Investigations, Multi, Oasis (Overwatch), Phone Calls &amp; Telephones, Plans, Plot, Post-Talon, Talon Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Trans Sombra | Olivia Colomar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:28:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27340852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzarcher/pseuds/bzarcher, https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarbird/pseuds/solarbird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Katya Volskaya's government in Russia has destroyed the omnium Koschei, and held their own against the Gods of Oasis. But with Jesse McCree having upset a precarious balance, Lena, Hana, and Sombra have intervened in Russia's rising civil war, and the fragile peace between Overwatch and Oasis has been shattered.</p><p>Brigitte and Lúcio bring in Hanzo, trying to piece all the bits of information they have together - and now Sombra has an idea.</p><p><i>Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Conflict </i> is a continuance of <i><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/14900729">The Arc of Ascension</a></i>, <i><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/972024">The Arc of Creation</a></i>, and <i><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/12703794">The Armourer and the Living Weapon</a></i>. To follow the story as it appears, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/972024">please subscribe to the series</a>.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Brigitte Lindholm/Lúcio Correia dos Santos, Brigitte Lindholm/Lúcio Correia dos Santos/Hana "D.Va" Song, Hanzo Shimada/Mei-Ling Zhou, Lena "Tracer" Oxton &amp; Sombra | Olivia Colomar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Gods and Monsters [120]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/972024</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Arc of Conflict, Fragment a1,1: telephone tag</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Gonna be straight with you, team. Solarbird here, like usual. This is where I usually put the writing-status update, and this kind of is that, but... I'm not entirely what to say about that. I'm in what I kind of think of as American Cascadia. (Canadian Cascadia is north of us, in B.C.) You probably know what the US is like right now, given how it's in the news. I know how <em>we</em> stand on everything, but... this coming week... hoo. I just don't know. I really don't. Things could get... really bad.</p><p>I hope they won't. I certainly don't <b>know</b> that they will! But there was more violence today, and Trump is saying outright they're going to try to stop votes from being counted after Tuesday night - presumably only if he's ahead, but still.</p><p>If you're not prepped for anything from large-scale protest to a general strike, get ready now. Prep like you would for an earthquake or some other natural disaster. I'm sorry, but yeah, I really do mean it.</p><p>dirtyclaws has launched <a href="https://discord.gg/pDZMpVT">a public fan-run <i>Of Gods and Monsters</i> discord server</a> and invites everyone to come join it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>[brigitte and athena]</i>
</p><p>"Come on, Athena," Brigitte said. "You have to know something. You're too nosy not to."</p><p>She'd asked Papa Reinhardt first, of course. He said he didn't know anything about any such biowarfare project, and would never stand for it, and she believed him. But he also said that's not the sort of thing Jack would ever tell him, and she believed that too.</p><p>Papa Torbjørn had given her similar answers by phone, but also said he wouldn't know a biowarfare project if it infected him in the face, and she laughed at that a little, but walked away no better informed.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Brigitte," Athena replied. "I do not have any information on such a project within Overwatch."</p><p>Brigitte shook her head, frowning. "Do you know there <em>isn't</em> a project?"</p><p>"I'm not some sort of 20th Century science fiction computer, Brigitte. I understand your request. I simply have nothing I can tell you."</p><p>"If you had something you couldn't tell me, could you tell me that?"</p><p>Brigitte could almost hear Athena patiently sighing, even though that was something she never did. "Yes."</p><p>"Okay, do you know something you can't tell me?"</p><p>"I know many things I cannot tell you, Brigitte. I have wargamed many counter-actions against the forces of Oasis. Telling you about any of them would violate Overwatch security protocols."</p><p>Brigitte thought about it.</p><p>"Okay... well... have you wargamed anything that would also affect the... biology and health of the ordinary people of Oasis?"</p><p>"I am no longer convinced there are any ordinary people in Oasis."</p><p>"You know what I mean! You're doing this on purpose."</p><p>"I do know what you mean, but the distinction is relevant. That said - I have not wargamed any unconventional strategies which would be a general-population biological attack vector, even for the citizens of Oasis."</p><p>"You <em>haven't.</em> You're sure."</p><p>"Yes. I have no intention of cooperating with any attempt by Overwatch to violate UN treaty guidelines on biological warfare."</p><p>"Do <em>they</em> think you would cooperate? Oasis, I mean?"</p><p>"I can only say with a strong degree of certainty that Sombra does not think I would. I do not know whether she has convinced the others. But they do think the Russians are engaged in such activities, and from what I can tell, with reason."</p><p>"But you can't get them to believe you that Overwatch isn't involved."</p><p>"I cannot convince them of something I am not fully convinced of myself."</p><p>"Uh," Brigitte said. "That sounds bad. Why... aren't you convinced?"</p><p>"I cannot prove a negative, Brigitte. I know you are aware that Overwatch has covert and semi-covert backing from multiple member nations of the Security Council. No matter what Sombra thinks, neither of us can know everything."</p><p>"Yeah, but there's a difference between 'I can't prove it' and 'I'm not convinced.'"</p><p>"Yes," Athena agreed. "There is."</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>-----</p>
</div><p>
  <i>[lúcio and hanzo]</i>
</p><p>"Hanzo, my man, you have to know this is bad. Not just bad for them, but bad for <em>Mei.</em> I know you wouldn't put up with that."</p><p>"I absolutely would not," the archer agreed. "And if I knew for certain something like that was happening? I would either put a stop to it, or leave. You will note - I have not left."</p><p>"What if you just suspected?"</p><p>"Then I would confront Jack Morrison directly, and find out. He is a man of no small honour. I do not think he would lie to me about this, were I to do so."</p><p>"<em>Have</em> you asked him?"</p><p>He could almost hear Hanzo's normally-dour expression growing even longer. "No. I am a field agent now, since the governments providing our funding started filling in the higher level positions at Headquarters. We do not speak directly very often at this point."</p><p>"So don't take this the wrong way, but - you don't really know either."</p><p>"No," he agreed. "I do not. But I doubt very much that it is true."</p><p>"That's fair," Lúcio granted. "I don't want to believe it either. Have you been able to talk to Mei since everything came down?"</p><p>"It has been difficult, at best. They have closed ranks, and security is now extremely high. But she has made it very clear that I am still welcome with her, and I am going to try again in a few days."</p><p>"Can you find out if she knows about what Hana told us?"</p><p>"I most assuredly will ask." There was a moment of silence, as he considered. "And I think she will tell me the truth."</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>-----</p>
</div><p>
  <i>[hanzo and mei-ling]</i>
</p><p>Hanzo found Mei-Ling more than ready to talk, once he was finally able to get through enough communications interference to speak to her.</p><p>"Yes," Mei-Ling said. "They are. The Russians, for sure."</p><p>"You're certain."</p><p>"Very much."</p><p>"How could they even get started with such a thing? You and I both know that conventional scans of your bodies return false data."</p><p>"Only if we aren't cooperating. Then they can be real." She hesitated, not sure whether she should've said that, then pressed on. "They had complete control over Zarya for long enough to get some physical samples, and probably some real scans, too. Moira and Angela and Michael say they have a lot of it wrong, but not all. It's enough to tell they're trying."</p><p>"And the doctors think Overwatch is involved because..."</p><p>"Because Jack was <em>here</em> for a while, at the ecopoint! It surprised everyone. And that gave him access to <em>me</em>. We met several times, you know."</p><p>She frowned. "I really hoped it meant more than just an intelligence opportunity to him... but I guess it didn't. And because of everything else, obviously. And then Jesse tried to kill Lena and Moira, you know. It was so scary! Just terrible..."</p><p>Hanzo saw his snowflake’s eyes full of unshed tears, and offered her a wry smile. "My brother has terrible taste in boyfriends, I must admit. He was always a foolish youth, and in some ways, he still is."</p><p>That got at least a watery smile out of the climatologist, though not a laugh.</p><p>"Is Morrison still speaking to you?"</p><p>"No," she said, shaking her head sadly. "Jack doesn't trust me anymore, I don't think. And I don't trust him, either. Not after all of this."</p><p>Hanzo grunted. <em>That,</em> he understood. "Perhaps you could try to reach Ana?"</p><p>"Ana hasn't trusted me since... well, you know. But it doesn't matter now. Either way, we know Volskaya is working on something aimed at us. All of us, too, not just... <em>us</em> us."</p><p>Hanzo frowned as he considered that. "That is what Hana said, but how are you so certain?"</p><p>"Oh! You really don't know?"</p><p>"No.” Hanzo shook his head,” I do not."</p><p><i>That makes all this make a lot more sense</i>, Mei-Ling thought. She leaned forward, unnecessarily. "Because they've already tested something, against Zarya, in Russia. It didn't work, but - it was enough to tell they're trying."</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>-----</p>
</div><p>
  <i>[brigitte and lúcio]</i>
</p><p>Lúcio fidgeted at his mixing console, taking a break between editing live sessions from the South American leg of his latest tour, the one supporting his new album, out less than a month.</p><p>"So what do you think we should do with this?"</p><p>"I've run out of people to ask," Brigitte replied, from Germany. "I think we should meet up with Hanzo and just go straight to Morrison."</p><p>"Confront him directly about it?" Lúcio said, without certainty. "Where, in Nepal?"</p><p>"That'd be easiest," Brigitte said, shrugging. "He's busier when he's in Taipei. We just have to be sure he's there."</p><p>"Huh," he said, tapping his fingers idly on a slider. "What's Rein think of that?"</p><p>Brigitte grinned. "You know Papa Reinhardt - if there's a direct confrontation to be had, he's for it. And I don't know about you, but I'm still mad Papa shuffled us both off when he already knew about the declaration of war." She snorted. "I have to admit telling both of us that the other one was a problem and needed to be hustled out was pretty clever."</p><p>"Yeah," Lúcio agreed. "But also, yeah. None of them think we can handle ourselves. Not really."</p><p>"Exactly," Brigitte said, with a firm nod. "What's Hanzo think?"</p><p>"Anything that might hurt Mei is out of the question as far as he's concerned. I gotta ask, but I think he'll be in." He bobbed his head back and forth in thought. "I've got four weeks of December shows in Europe, with back to back weekends in Germany and Austria. We could get your flyer after my last Sunday show, pick him up somewhere in Vietnam maybe? Depends on where he'll be. Then double back to HQ and knock down Jack's door. I can be back in time for Friday's Innsbruck show. Won't even miss a beat."</p><p>"Might have to improvise on the scheduling," she mused. "He's mostly in Nepal because of the Shambali, but not always."</p><p>"Well, the other weeks'd be harder, but if we get something that can short-circuit all this, I think it's worth it. What do you think?"</p><p>"We gotta try something," Brigitte replied. "I kinda get the impression Athena would be on our side too. Not sure why, I just think she would. Regardless, I'll ask. You'll call Hanzo, see if he's in?"</p><p>"It'll be a few days before he'll be somewhere he can talk again," Lúcio said. "But yeah. I'll also talk to my people, make sure the logistics can work."</p><p>"I'll talk to Rein. He'll be okay, I'm pretty sure."</p><p>"Great! If everyone's on board, I think we have a plan."</p><p>"I do too." She grinned. "This <em>also</em> means I get to see you again in a few weeks."</p><p>"You know it.” He closed his eyes, concentrating on the notes of her voice. "That flyer of yours have autopilot?"</p><p>"'Course it does, silly." The sound of her giggle was better than coffee, easing the fatigue and aches from a long day in the booth.</p><p>"Hmmmm…” He smiled, imagining the look on her face, and the way her blush highlighted her freckles. “So maybe I could do a little more than <em>sleep</em> on the flight."</p><p>"Not if Papa's there,” Brigitte cautioned.</p><p>"Ooof," Lúcio said. "I forgot."</p><p>"Yeah," she sighed, and he could hear her wince. "I didn't."</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>-----</p>
</div><p>
  <i>[sombra, and then, lena]</i>
</p><p><i>Well,</i> Sombra thought. <i>That sounds like an opportunity.</i></p><p>She hit her special, extra private comms.</p><p>"Hey, Rapidita," she said. "Pop over here for a minute?"</p><p>"Sure," Lena replied. "Why?"</p><p>"I got an idea."</p><p>"...how bad an idea is it?"</p><p>"Slightly evil. At most. C'mon, Speedy, don't you trust me?"</p><p>"You'd be mad if I said I did."</p><p>Sombra had to laugh. "Yeah. I would. But get over here, okay? I really do have an idea."</p><p>Lena appeared behind Sombra, reached over, and closed the comms connection from her end, as the hacker jumped a little in her chair.</p><p>"You know I hate it when you do that."</p><p>"Yeah, I know. But here I am, luv. Whatcha got?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the forty-ninth instalment of <i>Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Conflict</i>. To follow the story, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/972024">subscribe to the series via this link</a>, rather than to the individual works.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>